CRYSTAL LAKE CENTRAL`S WORRIES JUST BEGINNING

Jack ThompsonCHICAGO TRIBUNE

With eight victories entering the final week of the football season, one thing Crystal Lake Central didn`t have to worry about was making the playoffs. But that didn`t mean the team had a worry-free weekend.

First, the 10th-ranked Tigers had to sweat out a 42-35, triple-overtime victory against Cary-Grove (7-2) Friday night in order to finish 9-0 and win outright the Fox Valley Conference championship.

But that was just the start. There was then the matter of trying to figure whom the Tigers would be playing Wednesday in their first-round playoff game.

It`s especially difficult in the case of a school like Crystal Lake Central, which played in 5A last year but in 4A two years ago.

''We`re right on the border,'' said head coach Dennis Koerner, whose staff scouted Rockford West, Lake Forest and Belvidere over the weekend.

''There are a lot of possibilities. We didn`t know if we`d draw the same teams, or (Rockton) Hononegah, or Wheaton North, or Deerfield. There isn`t much you can do except send out as many scouts as you can and hope you get the right one.''

They did, winding up in Class 5A against Belvidere (8-1), which beat them 38-28 in the first round of the playoffs last year.

It has been an exciting first year at the helm for Koerner, who was an assistant under Bill Mack for 10 years at Crystal Lake Central.

''Our goal has always been to win the conference championship and whatever happens in the playoffs, happens,'' said Koerner. ''We haven`t made a whole lot of changes. There was only one change on the coaching staff and that was to replace Bill. It`s been a successful program and I`m very pleased that we`ve been able to achieve this kind of consistency.''

The Tigers` offense has been the most consistent part of the team, averaging 30 points a game. The offense, says Koerner, ''has carried us in many games.'' The high-powered wing-T offense is directed by senior quarterback Grant Swain, who rebounded from knee surgery a year ago to throw for 12 touchdowns and more than 800 yards.

''Grant hadn`t seen a lot of game time coming into this year, but he`s worked hard to come back and he`s played very well,'' said Koerner.

The potent ground game features three backs: senior fullback Marcus King, junior tailback Mark Diserio and senior wingback Dave Phillips. They run behind a line powered by tackles John Bock and Todd Coughlan, guards Shannon McCrea and Brian Halbrendt and center Tim Gannon.

''It`s hard to defend those three backs,'' said Koerner. An excellent example of that came in Friday`s victory. King scored four touchdowns, including one on a 60-yard run. Phillips` 3-yard run in the third overtime period provided the winning TD.

Defense isn`t Crystal Lake Central`s strength, but it hasn`t been its weakness, either. Bock and McCrea move over to the defensive line, King (who also handles all kicking chores) takes a spot at linebacker and Diserio, a starter as a sophomore, is at safety.

''We`ve played well enough defensively. We have an aggressive approach. We go after people,'' says Koerner.

A key has been the emergence of junior cornerback Dave Phillips, not to be confused with the aforementioned senior wingback.

''Dave Junior,'' as Koerner calls him, has stepped in to replace Jeff Smiejek, who was sidelined in the third week of the season with a sprained ankle. Smiejek returned to the lineup as a split end against Cary-Grove.

To go undefeated it takes some luck, too, and Koerner says the Tigers have been fortunate. ''We`ve had some turnovers, but we`ve made some breaks ourselves,'' he said.

''We`ve also been relatively healthy. We didn`t have a lot of depth on the line, and those guys have stayed in there.''

Another important factor has been the Tigers` schedule, or at least the way it was arranged, says Koerner.

''Our first game was with Montini, a pretty good team, and we won that one 14-0,'' he said. ''Then we played West Chicago, who has had a down year. So we had two nonconference wins, which really helped build the team`s confidence, and mine as well in my first year.

''Then we played Crystal Lake South. We had some things go our way and won convincingly. Then we played Jacobs and Riverside-Brookfield, so we saw the run-and-shoot offense two weeks in a row, and after that we played Woodstock, which throws the ball well, so we really were prepared for the passing game.

''The way things broke for us, it gave us a chance to progress, and we`ve become a better team every week. Our execution keeps improving. We`re just hoping to keep going.''